~ Landing Not Required…

Monthly Archives: August 2012

BsAs is a great city for walking and traveling via public transportation. Parking in town in expensive and traffic is a mess so many people use colectivos (public buses), the Subte (Subway system) or trains if coming from the burbs. Of course, walking is also prevalent – I loved walking around the city – it was a very independent feeling! And most hostels or an information center will have maps (our apartment rental agency, ByT, provided a map of the city as well). Though sometimes, I’ll admit, I did miss the convenience of a car 🙂

The most convenient way to get around for us was to walk, use the Subte or take a colectivo. We used this website to tell us what the best route was – it was excellent and generally accurate and provided a map – it even lets you search by landmark it some cases.

Go to “Como Llego” (How do I arrive) and you can put a from and to location and it will give you the route by colectivo, subte or train.

1) Subte – the Subte goes from various parts of the city into town. We took line D from Palermo (Scallibrini Ortiz stop) into town. It was only 2.50 pesos to ride one way, regardless of where you were going or how far you were going. It was easy enough to get around and use the Subte map (found at http://www.subte.com.ar/contenido/home.asp). In the mornings on the way to school, the Subte would be PACKED – sometimes so you couldn’t even get on. There were times where I felt like I was literally being held up by all the people around me. The Subte was kind of jerky and older and so at the stops I’d stumble a bit if I wasn’t holding on to something – not a problem in the mornings! Definitely get over any personal space issues when riding on the Subte! The only negative about the Subte is it stops running between 10 and 11 pm, depending where you are on the route.

There’s even fun grafiti on the Subte (subway)!

2) Colectivos – BsAs has an extensive bus system, called colectivos. They are a little difficult to ride and it helps if you know some Spanish so you can confirm you are on the right one. The link above helps tell you where to find the colectivo you need and what bus number to take. Luckily, the stops are usually pretty well labeled with the bus numbers that stop there. The problem is sometimes the same bus number takes different routes. So it’s good to confirm with the driver your stop (which you say when you get on anyway to pay). The other complication is that you either have to have a colectivo card or coins (monedas) to pay for the bus. When we were there, they raised the non-card rate from 1.2 pesos to 2 pesos. The fare is also dependent on how far you go. Anyway, you get on the bus, tell the driver your stop and then there is a machine behind the driver to insert your coins (the amount to pay is displayed on it). But then, that’s where the fun starts. The link above also shows the route the bus will take. After a couple botched attempts at riding the bus, we started jotting down notes on the route the bus was supposed to take. That helped us figure out when and where we were supposed to get off. To get off, you just move towards the exit (generally exit on the back side of the bus unless it’s too crowded) and press the button (sometimes this isn’t even necessary – the bus driver usually sees people waiting at the exit anyway and will stop at the next stop on the route). I think knowing the route the bus you’re on is supposed to take is really important – it’ll also help you figure out if you’re not on the right path of the bus – there was at least one time where we told the driver where we were going but he didn’t understand or didn’t care because that bus didn’t go there (another bus with the same number went to our destination).

3) Train – we only used the train to go to Tigre – it was pretty easy to figure out. We took the train from the Belgrano station instead of going back to the Retiro station to get the train. The train is also super cheap to ride – one way ticket to Tigre was less than 2 pesos!

4) Taxi – on occasion, we would take a taxi. The base rate was about 9 pesos and then .60 pesos for every 10th of mile I think. From San Telmo to Palermo, we paid about 40 pesos or $8 – about 5km. Taxis were pretty cheap in BsAs – you could usually get around for $5-$10. Always take an official taxi – if it’s available, the “Libre” sign on the passenger side will be lit up.

5) Omnibuses – we used Omnibuses to go to Puerto Iguazu from BsAs. The bus station at Retiro is a bit confusing (it’s about two blocks right of the train station) – it’s good to know what buses go to your destination before you get there because there’s over 100 bus companies selling tickets at the terminal. We used this site to see what bus companies serviced our route and then went to Retiro to buy our tickets. When we got our Iguazu tickets, the bus agent offered us a discount without even asking so it’s worth going there and talking to the various companies and asking if they have any promotions going.

6) Transportation to EZE airport – Taxis from the city (we were looking from Retiro) are around 200 pesos. We took a private charter bus company called Manuel Tienda Leon (http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp) for about 70 pesos each from near the Retiro terminal (about 3 blocks) to EZE airport – 45 minutes at night. They also let us leave our luggage there for 15 pesos (a lot cheaper than at Retiro – we paid 80 pesos there!).

Buenos Aires is a huge metropolis comprised of several neighborhoods, or barrios. We didn’t go through all the barrios, but we went through quite a few. Each of the barrios has a different feel and atmosphere to it. A brief description:

1) Centro – where the economic activity and downtown is. The obelisco on Avenida 9 de Julio and the base of the Subte lines are in this area, as was our Spanish school, Ibero.

2) La Boca – this is not known as a safe neighborhood and supposedly you shouldn’t really walk around La Boca after evening hours. But, La Boca is well known for El Caminito – a road of colorful houses that are remnants of the old immigrant style of multi-family housing. While the houses are interesting and beautiful, the area has become completely commercialized and no one actually lives in the houses anymore. Also, there is a museum at the outside of El Caminito called La Proa that had displays of modern art. Some that I liked, some that were just too ‘modern art’ for me. But I really liked the space and the small museum steps away from both El Caminito and the water.

El Caminito

El Caminito

Environmentally friendly artwork at the Proa Museum

Artwork at the Proa Museum

3) San Telmo – this was one of our favorite neighborhoods. The old, historic buildings along cobblestoned roads… each of the buildings had its own bit of character. And of course, there is the beautiful street art (graffiti) covering almost all the walls. There were cute little restaurants, pubs and bars that lined the streets. There was a restaurant we really liked the atmosphere of (La Poesia) – it reminded me of a bohemian coffee shop / restaurant where great minds meet to discuss and debate. The food was okay, but we had our first bottle of Malbec there! San Telmo is known for its Sunday Feria (market) where shopkeepers sell their wares from colorful glass bottles to textiles to crafts.

Our first Argentine Malbec 🙂

Cute street in San Telmo

Street corner in San Telmo

Leather masks at the San Telmo Feria – we bought a couple for our budding mask collection!

Magician at the San Telmo Feria

Bottles at the San Telmo Feria

4) Puerto Madero – This is where many businesses and corporations have their offices. It’s the newest area of BsAs, but it’s kind of cold feeling. It feels like a huge business district, but supposedly they have some good (expensive) restaurants in the area and is also a popular hangout for expats. I thought it was also interesting that many of the streets are named after famous women instead of men and that there is a beautiful modern bridge, Puente de La Mujer, dedicated to women as well. Also, Puerto Madero is the access point for the ecological reserve in the area (see the post “Los Espacios Verdes”).

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero boardwalk

Construction in Puerto Madero

5) Recoleta – another kind of ritzy area but more affordable than Puerto Madero. Recoleta is also a newer area that developed when people were trying to escape the diseases in central Buenos Aires. There are some cute restaurants and bars in this area as well, but my favorite attraction in Recoleta is Recoleta Cemetary. We spent a couple hours just going around the different gravesites, looking and reading the elaborate tombstones. Many famous Argentine politicians and influential people are buried there, including past Presidents and revolutionaries. Eva Peron, or Evita, is buried there under her maiden name, though I was surprised at how simple her tombstone was. The cemetery is just incredible – I’ve never been to one like it – I feel like it’s one of those things you only see in movies.

So beautiful and peaceful

Plaque dedicated to Evita

Memorial plaques for former President Sarmiento

Recoleta cemetery

6) Barrio Chino – while the “Chinatown” in Buenos Aires is small (in the broader neighborhood of Belgrano) – about 4-5 blocks – it’s worth a mention because the food there was pretty good. We found the food in BsAs to be good but lacking spiciness! Portenos are not a fan of spicy food at all! We couldn’t even find fresh peppers at our local grocery store – we had to go to a special market for them! Chinatown had a few restaurants, and I ordered Kung Pao chicken at one of them. The waiter asked if I wanted it normal spicy or extra spicy so I asked for extra spicy – it had a little kick to it but definitely not “extra” spicy for me! But it was delicious and definitely satiated a craving I had for something different than the normal Argentine food we’d been eating.

Gate at the front of Barrio Chino – a gift from the city

We were amused by what looks like a soccer ball in the statue

One of the restaurant fronts in Barrio Chino

7) Palermo – Palermo is the largest barrio in Buenos Aires. Two of the main sub-neighborhoods are Palermo Hollywood (because of the large number of studios that used to be there) and Palermo Soho because of the shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. We lived in Palermo Soho and I enjoyed just walking around the streets and discovering new cafes and restaurants. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really in the market for new clothes (so little room!) so I didn’t do any shopping – though I heard it was either the same or more expensive than in the States!

Everyday on our way home from the Subte, we would see this homeless guy – he had a TV and two dogs and a little bed.

8) Tigre – Tigre is actually a city outside of Buenos Aires. It’s where many people go on weekends to get out of the bustle of the city. Tigre offers a small town on the delta (river), though the river is a bit dirty. There is also a huge market there and we saw plenty of locals shopping there in bulk or buying other things and taking them back in their cars or on the train. Tigre was about an hour from Palermo by train. We were really amused that the train from Palermo was less than 2 pesos (about 40 cents) – that’s more than the local subway and buses! In Tigre, we took a boat cruise (about 40 pesos) and saw all the little vacation homes or homes by the rivers. After the cruise, we walked around the market and gawked at all the stuff they sold there – and we bought our own mate gourd and bombilla! There is also an amusement park with rides there, but I started to get a headache so we decided to skip it. Overall, Tigre was a good getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city and I can see why locals go there as an escape, but as a tourist, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if we had missed it.

Tigre boat cruise

Tigre boat cruise

Beautiful house on the Tigre boat cruise

Tigre boat cruise

The house is named after me! Raquel! There was a Raquel II right next to it!

Ferris wheel at the amusement park in Tigre

Finally, one of things I like about most of the barrios of Buenos Aires is all the cool looking street art – they were all so unique and different!

Finding and restoring long-forgotten history, betting on horses, and buying prized livestock. Old pastimes in another world – you read about other people doing them, but seldom, if ever, do it yourself. We met a Wisconsin couple at a bar one Saturday night, who told us these three things were their favorite things in Buenos Aires. So we decided to see for ourselves.

First up was the annual livestock show, La Rural, which coincidentally was close to our apartment. On the way in, Rachel got cotton candy. I love how her face always lights up every time she sees cotton candy. We’ve gotten it in nearly every country we’ve been in this year.

There was so much that she couldn’t finish it. First time, I’ve ever seen her not finish cotton candy.There was so much that she couldn’t finish it. First time, I’ve ever seen her not finish cotton candy.

I’ve seen spotted cows before, but never where there is a gray outline between the black and white colors, directly on the cow’s skin.

Prized llamas! Not your Texas rodeo!

Such massive Angus bulls

Rachel could sit in the rim of this tractor – the tire size was: 900/60R32.

Insert by Rachel:

There was also three tracks with obstacle courses for SUVs and pick-up trucks to show off their skills. We watched as the trucks and SUVs from Ford, Toyota and VW pulled farm equipment, went over rugged terrain… I was really impressed by the trucks going over a steep track shaped like a hill and then reversing back over it!

the truck went halfway down and then reversed back up!

going thru water

Back to Samir:

Second, we went to a mansion that had been restored. A wealthy owner had purchased a run-down row-house in the 1980’s to build a restaurant. But, during excavation, an underground tunnel was discovered, which led to an archaeological investigation. Artifacts surfaced, the plans for the restaurant were nixed, and instead a historical museum was created. Millions of dollars in restoration spanning multiple decades led to the beautiful Zanjon Mansion on Defensa Street, near the port. The tunnel underground? There were two tributaries that joined near the mansion, which created a place for standing water. There was a problem with mosquitoes and a plague, so they covered the tributaries inside tunnels. During excavation, they found arches of hallways indicating a level of the city under the current street level. And guess what? They found two more sets of arches beneath those, showing that the current “ground” level of the city is 30+ feet above where it once was. What an interesting bit of history.

Hallway at current ground level

An underground water cistern, estimated to be over 150 years old, capable of holding thousands of gallons of rainwater

Restored and rebuilt portion of the underground tunnels, which run several blocks

And finally, on one of our last days in town, I headed to the horse track. They had a casino underground, under the tracks with probably 10,000 slot machines. I walked and walked, but couldn’t find the end of the slot machines. I asked for tables – I was referred to one small private room (which was also the only smoking lounge in the entire casino) with computerized tables for roulette and black-jack (no dealer). I was particularly interested in the fact that I could get pretty close to the track, only separated by a fence and a row of bushes. And bets could be made for as little as 1 Argentine peso (about $0.20 US). Races were every 30 minutes, but since I went alone on a windy Friday afternoon, there were few other people, and I headed back home after a few races (I lost all my bets).

One of the things I love most about Buenos Aires is that you can be walking along on a sidewalk with tons of people, jaywalking across the street between cars, surrounded by giant buildings but then come across some little park or plaza, like a break from the city. European architecture was a major influence on the city, especially French, as can be seen by the many parks and plazas planned throughout the city. More than once, Samir would marvel and say something like ‘you know how much it probably costs the city to have this here? The land value alone and then building the park and dedicating this as a public space – it’s what cities all over should be doing’.

In the north part of Palermo, there is a large green area with the botanical gardens (free) and the Japanese Gardens (small fee). Further west of the Japanese gardens starts a huge park as well. The botanical gardens were nice to take a stroll through, though there wasn’t much labeled so we weren’t sure what we were looking at. The day we went to the Japanese Gardens was during winter holiday and was filled with kids! They had an interesting origami display for the kiddos (and us!). And another great place to go on an afternoon stroll.

On the east side of the city is Puerto Madero – a really ritzy, expat filled area. Doesn’t really even feel like Buenos Aires. But, there is a nice ecological reserve (Costanera Sur) on this side of the city. It’s a pretty large reserve and a great clean, calm space to escape from the bustle of the city. We took a stroll through about half of it. If we had planned better, we would have liked to rent bikes and ride through it as many others were doing. Given that it was winter, the ponds were dry and the birds had moved on, but still a nice place to spend the afternoon. In the middle of it, there was access to the coast as well – not the gorgeous beaches of Asia by any means, but still love sitting by the ocean! I was also really amused by the plumerillos (type of fox grass) that were everywhere!

Another park we liked was centered around a huge flower sculpture, Floralis Generica, completed in 2002. This aluminum giant flower is 23 meters high and when its petals are fully open, it is 32 meters wide. Apparently, it used to open and close with daylight, but right now that function is disabled.

One of the most famous plazas in the Capital is Plaza de Mayo which commemorates the May 25, 1810 revolution that eventually led to independence from Spain. It’s also surrounded by some interesting buildings, like City Hall and the Metropolitan Cathedral of BsAs.

The main boulevard that runs through downtown is the Avenida de 9 de Julio – July 9th Avenue (which is the Argentine independence day). The boulevard is so wide that we never made it all the way across in one pedestrian walk signal. On this boulevard is huge traffic circle with a monument in it dedicated to the exploration/creation of the city in the 1500’s. It looks like the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, though here it’s called the obelisk. It sort of functioned like a North Star for us – if we were lost nearby, we’d always look for the obelisk to point us back in the correct direction. We also happened to be there on July 9th and there was this large open concert out by the obelisk, though we never did figure out who the performer was!

There was also a cute plaza by our apartment, Plaza Armenia and of course, the spot for a bunch of restaurants and bars in Palermo Soho was Plaza Serrano. I really enjoyed just walking along and being able to stop at some random plaza that we came across. We’d sit there and soak in the sun on a cold day and watch the porteños meeting with each other and sharing their mate.

Side note on mate: Mate is a huge social tradition in Argentina, and also parts of Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. To say it’s an herbal tea oversimplifies it (I got yelled at by my Spanish teacher for calling it an herbal tea!) because it has such a social context to it. It is drank out of a hollowed calabash gourd (a type of squash I think) using a silver (or nickel silver) bombilla or straw. The straw is cool looking – it has designs on it and the bottom end is rouded and has small holes in it to help pass the brewed liquid into it while acting as a strainer for the tea leaves. There is a very special way to make mate. Essentially, you take the yerba mate (tea leaves) and fill the gourd about half way more depending on your preference. You shake the gourd upside down and right side up a few time to allow the finest leaves to surface to the top. Then, you tilt the gourd and pour in water that is not boiling (around 75 degrees Celcius). The arrangement of the leaves and how the water is poured in apparently is very important and makes a difference in taste. Then, the mate is drunk with the bombilla, and many times shared with others as part of an intimate, social activity. Once finished, you simply keep on adding water to the mate using the same tea leaves. We would often see people with their mate and thermoses filled with water having animated discussions in the park, sharing their mate. We finally bought a mate gourd and tried drinking mate – we weren’t the hugest fans of it but then later we found out that there were different flavors and it was acceptable to add sugar to it. And that the first pour was the strongest flavor and it got better with adding more and more water. Anyway, I thought it was a really cool tradition and I liked all the different designs of the mate gourds and bombillas!

Personal note: We live in Texas – I grew up learning and HEARING Mexican Spanish. The accent here is soooo different plus there are words that aren’t used here and vice versa! I’m still getting used to it, but it’s gorgeous!

So, here is the approach we took to learning and practicing our Spanish.

1) Group Spanish classes:

LOADS of Spanish schools here in BA. The cheapest one we found online and now that we’re here and have asked around by far is Ibero Spanish School. The guy who owns it is kind of a douche but the teachers are great. There are various levels and you do 20 hours of group Spanish classes a week.

The only thing I didn’t like was that they do give you an entrance exam so as to place you at the right level. But if they don’t have that class going on, they place you at the closest level. For example, I was supposed to be in Intermediate II in my first week but when I got there, they didn’t have other students for that class so I was placed in Indermediate I in the third (final) week. It worked out fine because it was a great review and most of the students in that class stayed in the class the whole month I was there. Ibero divides their levels in three week sections. We stayed for four weeks so I was able to get through the end of Intermediate II (learned up to present subjunctive and imperative; Samir took up to Intermediate I and learned up to preterite, imperfect and some of the perfect tenses). The biggest disadvantage of group classes is there is limited time to actually speak and if you’re a naturally shy person or someone who doesn’t like speaking up, it would be difficult to practice speaking. Though you speak during the formal exercises at a minimum.

This was one of our favorite weekly activities. It’s basically like speed dating but for learning languages. You get assigned to a table and a person who wants to practice speaking English (generally someone local) is seated with a person wanting to practice Spanish (like us). You spend five minutes talking in one language and then they go around saying Language Change and you switch to the other language. It was a great way to both practice our Spanish and meet new people – portenos and other travelers alike. We pretty much always hung out with someone that we met at the event after the event. This event changes locations but is currently Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in Palermo and Friday in Recoleta. Tuesday night is some kind of Argentinian trivia night – never went though. The events are 35 pesos (in July 2012) or 20 pesos if you have a student ID or are in one of the university programs that has ties with Spanglish. You also have the option of buying a punch card for 100 pesos that you can use 4 times and can share it with another person as well. Recommend getting! But, honestly only good once you have a basic level of Spanish. Most of the native people speak great English (we met so many that are studying to be English teachers or translators) and are willing to help you out, but there are some who have very basic English – that’s going to make a long awkward conversation if both people are at beginner levels.

We unfortunately never made it to this Tuesday night event, but a couple of girls in our Spanish class recommended it. It’s less structured than Spanglish – it’s more of a happy hour (at 9pm) where people just mingle and talk to each other. You have a flag from you are from to represent your country. Another good way to meet people and practice your Spanish from what we’ve heard and it’s a totally free event.

4) Private lessons – this is probably the best way to learn since you get more specific attention and will have more time to practice speaking – but lessons at the schools are expensive (almost double group lessons). Come here and find someone local if you’re staying a while – you’re bound to meet another traveler who can recommend a good private tutor.

5) Practice anywhere – always practice speaking – watch TV in Spanish, listen to Spanish songs. Practice translating stuff on your own – it’s hard but will give you an idea of your vocab. Also, once you’ve gotten to an intermediate level, try take in a play – BsAs has a lively theater scenes. You may not understand even half of it, but always great to listen and pick up words! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

For all of our trip thus far, we have been using our debit card to get out money from ATMs in local currency – this has worked all through Asia, Peru and Uruguay. We didn’t carry any cashier’s checks and had a limited supply of US dollars just in case – though we ended up using this in Cambodia since they use dollars. However, here in BsAs, the President has had some policies that have made people here concerned about the stability of the Argentine peso and it seems to fluctuate a lot. Also, the official rate to buy pesos with USD and the blue market rate to sell pesos for USD is hugely different. For example, when we got here, the official rate for the former was ~4.7 pesos to $1 and the latter rate was $1 to 6 pesos. So in effect, if I withdrew $10 worth of pesos, I’d get 47 pesos. But if I tried to convert those same 47 pesos to USD (which I don’t even know where I would do since no one is taking the Argentine peso right now apparently), I’d only get $7.83 back instead of my original $10. The blue market is not the official market but more based on a secondary market as Argentinians try convert their peso assets into USD.

While apartment hunting, we heard about this service called Xoom. For Americans (I’m not sure about other countries – I tried doing a quick search on the website but didn’t see anything specific about where you can send money from), all you do is setup an account with Xoom and link it to your bank account or credit card, the latter having a higher fee. But, the rate they give is close to the blue market rate and even after the fees, much better than the official rate. One can also always go to a place that buys pesos on the black market but I didn’t feel confident in doing this due to all the counterfeit money running around. Anyways, we linked Xoom to our credit card (it’s a higher fee but I don’t like linking things straight to my bank account!) and scheduled a transfer from Rachel to Samir. We had to call them to verify a couple things but the next day our transfer was ready to be picked up (the website lists a lot of locations in BA but I read online that the More Money location on Libertad was the only one that actually worked but I never tried any of the other locations). We were also told that I could have just sent myself the transfer. The next day, we went to the office, Samir showed his passport and I showed mine (I don’t know why I had to do this – I guess because I was there) and we picked up our money without a hitch. The second transfer was a bit more complicated – it went to a Confirming recipient status but then we just called them again and were able to answer a couple of questions to confirm it so our transfer went through a couple days later. So by using Xoom, our exchange rate went from 4.5 to 5.7 (after all fees) – a huge difference! We did a third transfer and the same thing happened – it went to a Confirming Recipient status but they sorted it out themselves and the transfer was ready within a day again. And the pickup location is on a busy street but always be careful with that kind of money!

Other options are to find local portenos you trust to buy your dollars (if you brought some) and sell you pesos – people like to hoard dollars here and can no longer get them from banks / the government due to recent restrictions. Also note, ATMs in Peru and Uruguay do dispense dollars so if you go to either of these places before Argentina, recommend getting some dollars out (I don’t think you have to have an American bank account either).

There’s a bunch of info online about renting an apartment in BA but wanted to share our experience. Firstly, we decided that we wanted to rent an apartment for one month, thereby getting a better monthly rate. If you are doing a longer rental, still recommend booking a place for a month ahead of time and then come and looked around some more once you get a better feel for the city and get to know people here who may know people who rent places or rooms.

We looked around at hostels as well but double rooms are pretty expensive in decent areas of BA – we couldn’t find anything cheaper that around $40 and that was with a shared bathroom. We’d also emailed a couple of places to see if there was a discount for staying for a month but most either said no, they had no availability or they only offered a discount for dorms. So we were looking at paying around $1200 for a month in a hostel which seems outrageous! Maybe if we had planned ahead, we could have found something with availability, but we’re backpackers – who plans ahead?! So we decided to look for a place with a budget around $900 for the month.

However, we are a couple and don’t really want to stay in dorms for a month! But if you’re single, definitely check out hostels or even renting a room in someone’s apartment – I’ve heard rents for these are anywhere from 300-500 pesos a month ($60 – $100 USD) which of course is awesome. But these places may be further out of the city and take some time to find. Since we only gave ourselves a week to look for a place and we wanted our own place, we looked at some listing sites online. Again, PLENTY of these as well. The other note is that we waited until we got here to look at places because we decided a bit last minute to spend time in BA and wanted to make sure we got something in a neighborhood that we liked and was safe.

We had read online that most visitors stay in San Telmo, Recoleta or Palermo – specifically Palermo Soho or Hollywood. So we spent some time walking around San Telmo and Palermo. We had heard Recoleta was a little more expensive (though not as expensive as Puerto Madero – the place to stay if you have money!) so we limited our search to these neighborhoods. We really liked the character of San Telmo, a little older of an area. But there are definitely areas where I didn’t feel safe walking around at night in (around the Constitution Subte stop). We also really liked the Palermo Soho and Hollywood areas even though Palermo is a bit further from the city. So we looked for places near the Subte and bus lines. At the end of the day, we decided on Palermo because it had a bit of a nicer feel to it though we love the character of San Telmo.

So, we researched a bunch of listing agencies and here are some of our thoughts:

1) http://www.buenosaireshabitat.com/ – from what we read online and from what one of our friends who used them told us – they are a great company and do good business. However, I think they cater to more high end properties because nothing they had was in our range for the neighborhoods we were looking in. This may also be because we were looking so late and all the cheaper properties were already rented?

4) http://www.buenosairesstay.com/ – this is initially who we started our search with – their rep online seemed good enough and their properties were in our budget. We spent three full days going to the intersections that the listings we liked were at and when we finally decided on one, we emailed the company. However, they said that the apartment wasn’t available. The same thing happened with our second and third choices. Apparently, the site doesn’t have exclusive listings so they have no idea about availability until they check with the owner. Frustrating.

5) http://www.bytargentina.com.ar/ – so I had previously looked at this agency and they had some crap reviews and so I ruled it out. But then, a couple girls from our Spanish class used them for their place and had a good experience. Our experience with them was great – they were on time with our check-in process and the owner of our place seems really nice. I’ll update about the check-out process when we leave in a week! (Update: Everything went smoothly – ByT confirmed the check out time with the owner and he came by, looked at the place and gave us our deposit back with no problems!). So, I think all the listings are managed by ByT so the availability shown is correct. Given some of the negative comments online, I’ll only speak to the apartment we rented:

I was SUPER nervous about going to our place sight unseen and had butterflies in my stomach until we walked in. Our place was super cute, the photos are true to what it looks like. Note, we stayed here during the winter – there is a gas heater in the living room and an electric one in the bedroom. There also appears to be an AC unit in the bedroom but not in the living room (for summer renters). There is a washeteria right across the street and the location is great. About seven blocks from the Subte, a block from two grocery stores and a few blocks from Plaza Serrano and a bunch of other restaurants and bars. We’ve had a great experience here – decently stocked kitchen and no bug or ant problems (though that may be because of wintertime).

A couple of really important things to note about renting a place:

1) I didn’t find any agencies that would let you actually look at the place in person before renting it. Since we were going to be moving in a couple days after our booking, all we paid was the $45 admin fee. The deposit and rent we paid when we got there. So if we didn’t like it, we were just going to walk out and deal with the rental agency later.

2) Most owners want US dollars due to the economic situation here and the stability of the peso. So you have to bring dollars with you. Of course, we didn’t know we were going to be renting a place and didn’t bring enough dollars and no ATMs are allowed to disperse dollars (lovely recent presidential policy). However, the owners will take pesos at a rate higher than the official rate. For example, when we rented, the official rate was about 4.7 pesos to the dollar. We could pay in pesos at 5.5 pesos to the dollar which would have sucked because we were essentially paying more in dollars since the peso rate wasn’t great. However, through Xoom (read our post on Xoom) we were able to get a 5.7 peso to the dollar rate so we ended up actually paying less dollars!

3) Don’t forget – the agency is just a conduit for renting your place. The owners are ultimately responsible for any repairs, etc. However, I’d expect a rental agency to not deal with troublesome owner – though this seems to be the biggest complaint about ByT – the owner screwed them somehow but the company still work with them – hopefully that’s an older policy. We had a great experience.

At the end of the day, we liked having an apartment with ample space, working Internet in an excellent location! Even though it was a bit over our US$900 / month budget at US$975, we weren’t having any better luck with hostels or other agencies, perhaps because we were so last minute. And it was our first place we’ve ever had together!